Everything You Need to Know About Using Smartphones When You Travel

On the first Tuesday of each month, Dave Dean from Too Many Adapters gives us tips and advice on travel tech and gear. He is our resident expert, trying out new products and seeing what works so you don’t end up with gear that breaks and a laptop filled with viruses! This month’s column is about how to pick the best phone for when you travel.

As a travel tech writer, I get asked about using smartphones when we travel. The minute we head overseas with our phones, we’re hit with a confusing mess of technical jargon, expensive roaming agreements, conflicting advice, and nonworking gear. Trying to discuss the nuances of GSM frequency bands or iPhone unlock codes with a mobile vendor in a dusty Cambodian town isn’t my idea of fun, and I doubt it’s yours either.

Since we all want our smartphone to work when we travel, I’ve put together this guide covering everything you need to know to get your smartphone working, one way or another, when you’re on the road. It’s detailed, but not too complicated, and will save you money, time, and plenty of frustration (and has additional resources at the end).

Will My Phone Work Overseas?

The first thing to check is whether your phone will physically work overseas. Different countries and cell companies use different technologies and frequencies, and your phone needs to be compatible with them to work. The most common cellular technology is GSM, and it’s widely used throughout much of the world. CDMA is less common, but it is used by Verizon and Sprint in the United States, and a few carriers elsewhere — if your phone only supports CDMA, it’s highly unlikely to work internationally.

Even if you do have a GSM phone, though, you still need to make sure it supports the frequencies used in your destinations. For the ability to send and receive calls, texts, and 3G data in most of the world, look for the words “quad band” or the specific bands 850/900/1800/1900 MHz in the specifications. If your phone supports all four, you won’t have many issues while traveling. This page lists the exact GSM frequency details for pretty much every country.

But, don’t fret, as phones are built these days to work in multiple countries, so there’s a 99% chance your phone will work overseas.

Once you’ve got that figured out, it’s on to the next hurdle: unlocking.

What’s an unlocked phone and why should I care?

When it comes to travel, you’ll hear a lot of talk about unlocked phones, which isn’t much use if you don’t know what they are and whether you have one.

If you got a free or discounted smartphone by signing up for a service contract, there’s a chance it’s network locked (this is especially true for Americans). This means your phone company prevents your phone from being used on anything other than its own network. In a particularly shady move, some companies in the US even lock phones that you paid full price for unless you specifically bought the unlocked version.

With a locked phone, you’re stuck with paying your cell company’s roaming rates from the minute you land in your destination until you arrive back home.

Locked phones are common if you’re from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, and less so in Europe and Asia, where paying the full price for unlocked devices is typical. If you’re not sure if your phone is unlocked, ask your cell company.

An unlocked phone is a phone that you can use anywhere in the world. You can replace the SIM card as you travel the world and put local SIM cards in as you go.

Is roaming really that bad?

Yes, almost always. Your existing cellular plan doesn’t usually apply overseas, and you’ll typically be charged much higher rates every time you make a call, send a text, or use cellular data. Not every company is out to gouge their customers, but stories of people returning home to a bill of several thousand dollars after a short international trip are far from unusual.

There are a couple of rare exceptions – T-Mobile in the US includes free SMS and (slow) data in 120+ countries as part of its Simple Choice plan, and Three in the UK extends your calls, text, and data package to 16+ other countries. If you’re not with carriers like these, roaming is an option best left for those with corporate expense accounts, as even the “special” international packages are expensive and a poor value.

How do I unlock my phone?

The good news is that it’s often possible to get your phone unlocked; the bad news is that it’s not always simple or cheap.

The first step is always to ask your cell company. Policies vary widely but cell companies in the US are at least legally required to unlock prepaid phones after a year, and contract phones after they’ve been paid off. This page has a good breakdown of the policies in several different countries, but even if you’re not officially eligible, it’s always worth asking.

If your carrier refuses to unlock your phone, you can always try to find the appropriate unlocking code yourself. Companies like Unlock Base sell such codes for a few dollars. They aren’t guaranteed to work for every device, but the company says it’ll return your money if there’s a problem.

The best way is to go to independent phone stores and specialized unlocking places and have someone unlock your phone for you. You can find unlock stores all around the world (especially in Southeast Asia).

My phone is unlocked. Now what?

Once you have an unlocked phone, you simply buy a local SIM card in your destination. The price, approach, and difficulty varies a lot, but you’ll typically end up paying between $10 and $50/month for a useful amount of calls, texts, and data. Daily and weekly plans are sometimes available if you’re in a country for a shorter period.

This is an inexpensive way to stay connected with phone and data service while you travel. The downside is that you’ll have to change SIM cards every time you change countries, so you may end up carrying a stack of SIM cards around the world with you (though I like being reminded of all the places I’ve been!).

What if my phone won’t work, or I can’t unlock it?

If your phone isn’t going to work overseas, or you can’t get it unlocked, you still have a few options:

Only use Wi-Fi — Your smartphone will still connect over Wi-Fi just fine, so replace calling with Skype or Google Voice, SMS with WhatsApp, and download a bunch of offline travel apps to use when you’re away from a signal. You’ll be surprised how well that approach can work, and not getting notifications all the time is quite refreshing.

Buy a budget smartphone —While there’s a lot of junk at the bottom of the smartphone range, there are a few decent phones for travelers under $200. My current favorite is the Motorola Moto G — you’ll want to buy a microSD card for some extra storage, but other than that it’s a reasonably speedy smartphone, with a battery that lasts all day and a 5” screen you actually want to use. Tip: grab the “Global” version for maximum compatibility overseas. You’ll still need to buy local SIM cards to put in it.

Rent a phone — You can rent phones at airports and from various companies before you leave home, but I’d only consider it for a short trip to a specific country where my usual phone didn’t work. For anything other than that, it’s cheaper just to buy a new one.

Rent or buy a portable hotspot —Portable hotspots are small gadgets that create a wireless network and share a cellular data connection over it — you can typically connect 5 or 10 devices to the network you create. You can rent one for short trips at an inflated daily or weekly rate, or you can buy an unlocked hotspot and stick a local SIM card in it, just as if it were a phone. Your smartphone will treat this like any other Wi-Fi network.

Use a tablet with cell capabilities — If you already own a 3G/4G tablet, there’s a chance it was unlocked when you bought it. If so, you can use this when you travel instead of a phone — just buy a data-only SIM locally, and use Skype and WhatsApp for your phone and SMS requirements. You can also use the tablet as a hotspot, to share the connection among your other devices.

Buy a disposable phone — If you’re in a country for a while and all you need are calls, texts, and maybe some light web browsing, just buy the cheapest prepaid phone you can find at the local mobile store. Sure, it’ll probably be complete rubbish, but you can often pick these phones up with a bit of credit for next to nothing and they’ll do the job for a while. The upside? You really won’t care if you drop it in the hostel toilet. If it does survive the length of your trip, just pass it onto to somebody else when you leave.

As you can tell, getting your smartphone working overseas without coming home to a huge bill isn’t always a straightforward task. You need to do some leg work — at a minimum, you need to know where you’re planning to go, the exact specifications of your phone, and the details of any contract you have for it. Expect to spend some time talking to your cell company, no matter how painful it’s likely to be. Sorry about that.

With a bit of time, money, and effort up front, though, you’ll know exactly what options you’ve got when you’re on the road and can prepare for most eventualities. Do your research, avoid the rip-offs, have the right gear with you, and you’ll still be able to have an affordable, connected trip with smartphone in hand.

Dave runs Too Many Adapters, a site devoted to technology for travelers. A geek as long as he can remember, he worked in IT for 15 years. Now based out of a backpack long term, Dave writes about travel and tech from anywhere with half-decent Internet and a great view. You can also find him talking about the life of a long-term traveler at What’s Dave Doing?

Yup haha. I also really enjoyed the tips. Been a fan of nomadic matt for a long time. Only semi-difficult part is unlockingv the actual phone…. So if you’re not technically inclined it can be a little tricky to get those “unlock codes” Although… there are plenty of websites that offer to give a code to unlock your phone, and they’re often relatively cheaper than going to a phone network… it doesn’t take as long too! You have to be careful though, as you can never be sure of what you’re getting. In my experience, the best ones is unlockyoursim.com I usually recommend it because it doesn’t cost at all – just requires you to fill out a short survey beforehand for market research, I suppose – but it works! Hope it helos you Zascha and anyone else who isn’t a tech person.

Hi. Not sure if this is the right forum but here goes…I posted a phone, iPhone 4s unlocked, to a young guy in Uganda. He tells me it won’t work until he pays 200,000shillings (about £40) to a shop… to do what?? Any idea anyone??

I look forward to the day when the ultimate global SIM card data plan comes along, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time for one bright spark to come up with a no boarders solution that connections all the global data plans together. It’s almost come close in the form of a ChatSim with global free Whatsapp chat. I thought Amazon Kindle unboxed things when it launched its first 3G kindle and I could Tweet and web browse globally for free, that stopped with one update. I will just wait and see, until then I will stick with my pouch of 30 or so SIM cards and endless amounts of global numbers.

I am waiting for the day when all phone plans are global! It is kind of ridiculous how much work you have to go through just to connect to the local cell and data networks. For my last trip I had to use the global roaming plan with my cell provider (Verizon) because I couldn’t get a sim card in India. Some countries won’t give you sim cards unless you have proof of residence in that country or state.

I’m going through all this right now as we prepare to leave for our RTW. One nice thing to know is that Sprint is really good about doing an international unlock on their world phones (S4, GS5, etc…). I was able to get both my wife and I’s unlocked over their chat support. However, the unlock is only good for out-of-country networks and you’ll still be handcuffed to Sprint upon return.

A side question for the author or Matt, who I know uses/has used the T-Mobile unlimited international option. Just how slow of data are we talking about? Have you had success running apps like Google Maps reliably in most counties with it? Debating going wifi-only vs. buying out of Sprint and signing up w/ T-Mobile. Thanks in advance!

I turn on t-mobile service for my moto-g when I travel. 2G data service in Turkey, Japan, Canada, France, Spain, Portugal and Greece in 2015. 4G service in the USA where it works. Unfortunately, t-mobile service where I live is poor so I shut it off when I am at home and use my Verizon phone…..

All of Verizon 4G phones are unlocked from day one. Since Verizon uses CDMA in the US they really have no need to protect their phones from moving to other networks. The nice part about the iPhone 6 is that it not only has CDMA but quad band GSM already built in. So in Europe you can purchase a local SIM and install it and you should be ok. My experience in Spain and France and Portugal is that it worked just fine. Of course you must choose the local carrier carefully as not all have great coverage.

Hi Matt
Thanks for the post. I always use a local sim card when I travel and I cancelled my monthly contract two years ago. By not having a contract phone, there are no nasty surprises when roaming, also my phone is unlocked too. The downside to having a unlocked sim free phone is initial cost when buying a phone.

Just had Sprint unlock my iPhone 5S. Contract ends 3/25 so that’s over and one with. But they sent me this long email with a link to iTunes about how I need to backup everything on iCloud, then do a complete Erase All Content and Setting of my phone and then Reset all Settings. But they didn’t tell me when I needed to do this – before I fly to Europe, before I buy a Sim card in each country, do I take my Sprint Sims card out and use only wi-fi?

I have an iphone 4S. I’m in Canada but this would apply anywhere. My provider did what they needed to on their system to unlock my phone and told me to connect my phone to iTunes and do a restore. (and before you do anything, back up your phone). Once the restore was completed, itunes sent me a message confirming that my phone was unlocked.

This has to be done before you can put in other sim cards. (and at home since you want access to your computer/itunes/place to backup your data etc.)

Absolutely genius tips. Had no idea my provider was legally obligated to unlock my phone after I pay it off… going to double check with them and pay it off asap before traveling in a few months!!!! Thank you!

I realized my phone wasn’t even worth unlocking–it was aging and becoming painfully slow. After suffering through using wifi for 4 months, I broke down and bought a cheap local phone that only managed to last 6 months. I broke down again and upgraded to something better–and I can switch out the SIM card if/when I move.

Some great tips – but I really think just using the wifi is a good option, unless you are going to be in one country for a long time! I’m heading on a big trip to Asia soon and I really don’t feel like swapping SIMs every month!

If you want to stay reachable at your home phone number, get a dual-SIM phone. Turn off data roaming on your home country number but leave the SIM in place. Then put in a local SIM card each time you move to a new country and use that for local call, data, etc.

Ensuring that the phone is un-locked is one single important step while stepping outside the country. However, buying a new phone in a new country is not going to be a pocket burner for most of the travelers considering the declining prices of smart phones.. Just a thought..

I prefer to travel way old school and I don’t even turn my phone on at all. I find not being constantly reachable to be one of the most positive aspects of traveling. Otherwise it’s just another day… There’s enough to worry about in traveling overseas without having to figure out how to use my phone which just seems way more complicated than it should be in this universal age.

I have a question for you. I have an apple Iphone 4s from verizon wireless (it says carrier: verizon 16.0) – the model number is MF259LL/A.

I want to go overseas and ONLY use my phone for “whatsapp” and maybe to take pictures. I would ONLY use “whatsapp” when I had wi-fi avaliable. Can I still use whatsapp overseas when I have wi-fi? Furthermore, will I be charged for using wi-fi if I’m connected to a host like at a hostel?

I use my trust iPhone 6plus right now. It costs a fortune but I love Apple. I prefer an iPhone 6 since its easier to handle but the bigger screen on the 6plus is a bonus for GPSing and reading stuff to help your travels.

Great advise! I live in the USA and didn’t know that I could have my phone unlocked after one year. It has already been two years for me, so I will have it unlocked. When I was on a cruise ship, I tried using their WiFi and found out that I needed to pay a lot just to use their WiFi. I was at their mercy because I had no alternative while at sea. I guess sometimes you may just have to pay. I chose to go without until after I reached port and then I had other options.

Usually when I travel I brought an extra phone with me…or bought a cost less android phone that can help me in my travel abroad…Your tips are very helpful for those who wants to use their smartphones for travel…

Some European Union lawmakers are trying to establish a ban on cell phone roaming fees within the EU. The proposal is supposed to go into effect later this year but may be delayed. If there were a ban on roaming fees within the EU, it would make it much easier to travel with a call phone in Europe. You would still have to buy a European SIM card but you should be able to keep using that SIM card in other countries.

Like the author, I have a collection of various SIM cards from all over Europe and it sucks that I had to waste time to locate a SIM card seller and buy new ones whenever I go to a new country. It is also frustrating to buy new SIM cards even though the pile of SIM cards I already have still have unused minutes & data on them.

I use an international sim card, so I can use it almost anywhere. Not exactly cheap but it saves me lots of hassle. I put it in an unlocked iPhone 4 and leave the phone on anywhere.
Its attached to an account, so you pay when you use it. I like this service.

I have an unlocked T-Mobile phone that I suspend the service for when I travel (no contract!) and then I just use my wi-fi. I have a $10 a month portable wi-fi that I pay for and since T-Mobile is worldwide, I can connect to that anywhere that T-Mobile has service. Then I can just use my call/text over wi-fi and it’s just like having a normal phone with my phone number and everything, I love it!

Awesome tips! I just have one question. One of the links in the article linked to Knowroaming. Do you have any experience using this service? If so, do you recommend it or have any thoughts on using that product/services when traveling abroad? I’m planning a vacation for this summer and would really appreciate some advice! Thank you!

I wouldn’t want to use it all the time on a long trip (you’re still looking at $8/day for unlimited use, which mounts up really fast), but I found that if I just turned it on now and then for email, maps etc and then turned it off again, I was using around $5 every three days. That’s still not as cheap as a local SIM, but it’s not terrible, and there were some nice extra features like your own free UK and US numbers that people can call/SMS you on anywhere in the world.

I recently travelled with a cheap Nokia 630 (less than 100$). I bought a local SIM and used Wifi to Skype with the family. This phone can run several days on one charge.

But most important: it has the HERE maps application that allows you to download country maps once to the phone and from then on the GPS function always shows you exactly where you are on the map, even if you do not have mobile data or wifi available. Also gives directions to your destination. I found this invaluable.

This article was really useful! Coming from North America (land of smartphone contracts), it’s hard to figure out what to do when it comes to traveling with your smartphone without roaming and paying tons of money. We’re lucky to have an unlocked phone with dirt cheap SIM card rates in places in Asia. Some places like Laos and Myanmar have impossibly slow internet everywhere, even with a SIM card (mostly EDGE) so it’s still a struggle.

Buying or renting a portable hotspot is something I’ve never considered so thanks for that tip. Might be something to consider when we really need stable internet to do work on our computers!

Great read, thanks! FYI, GPS will work on most all phone (to my knowledge) even if you do not have phone service. What I do is cache my maps while on WiFi – just zoom into certain areas you plan to go, so the map info (street names and such) is saved temporarily to your phone – then when you get off WiFi you should still be able to use your map pretty decently.

Can anyone comment on this statement made by CNet:
“Verizon Wireless is the only major wireless carrier today that does not put a software lock on any of its 4G LTE smartphones. This means that whether you are on a contract or you paid full price for your Verizon 4G LTE handset, it is automatically unlocked. (Note: This is only for 4G LTE phones, and it is not the case for 3G devices on Verizon.)”

I can confirm that Verizon LTE phones are truly unlocked at least on their iPhone 5, 5C, and 5S. I’ve installed Telcel Mexico SIM cards with data and have had no issues connecting.
The only downside is you’ll only get 3G outside the US because the frequencies on Verizon phones are a little different.

Not sure if you’re still responding to comments on this post but I’m still a bit confused about a few things.

The Scenario: My niece is going to study abroad for a semester in South Africa and is also planning to travel for two weeks to Botswana and a few days to Zimbabwe. We have unlocked her iPhone 6. We want her to be able to call us, text friends back in the states, check her US university email, check social networks like Facebook or Instagram, and upload images sometimes.

The Questions:
* When she has her original US sim card in and is overseas, what should be turned on/off to avoid crazy charges? What can/can’t she do with regular WiFi — post to Facebook? Check email through her iPhone? Make calls vis WhatsApp?
* When she has a local SIM card what should be turned on/off in order to avoid crazy bills? If she has a local SIM card, will she still be able to access her existing email accounts on her iPhone without changing anything?
* If she was going to just use her phone a few times when not on WiFi in Botswana, I’m assuming it would just be better to pay AT&T charges rather than switch anything?

I know I sound a like an idiot for not knowing this stuff but any help would be appreciated.

We’re on Verizon with our iPhone 6s. They told us the best thing while we’re in Italy. Is to put the phones on airplane mode in wifi areas. We can’t call there, but can do unlimited texting without crazy charges. The other suggestion was getting a SIM card for the country.

So I seriously researched the T-Mobile option, and I don’t understand how your phone bill was $70 when you returned -–as the international plan is specified as having $0.20 cents per minute for all incoming and outgoing calls. When I spoke wit the rep on the phone they confirmed that this twenty cents per minute of talk time is in addition to whatever flat monthly rate you are paying (for example: $70 international plan + twenty cents per minute for all outgoing and incoming calls).

Does this mean that you did not receive or make any calls on your trip?

Did I miss something? How is this a good deal? It seems like the only benefit would be having a phone number that stays the same and wouldn’t have to change like when you buy a local sim.

It’s a good deal compared to other roaming options, not compared to buying a local SIM. Getting free texts and data in most countries around the world just isn’t offered by any other major carrier — but depending on how quickly you’re moving (ie, how many SIM cards you need to buy), the T-Mobile plan is likely still more expensive. You’re paying for the convenience of having one number, and not needing to buy local cards in each country.

That said, to get around the calling costs, I personally use WhatsApp for texts and Skype or Google Hangouts (on Wi-fi or cell data, depending on the connection speeds) to make and receive free and low cost calls.

I used my iphone 6 in the Maldives. I used it on airplane mode with wifi turned on. As long as I had access to wifi at the resort, it was fine. just used my viber app (made sure my friends/family had the app before I left USA). Next time i’m taking my own hotspot with me, Skyroam 3Gmate. It’s a personal WiFi hotspot for frequent travelers who wants wifi on the go with no strings attached – no contracts, SIM changes, frantic calls to your carrier, roaming disasters or surprise fees. You simply turn it on, activate service, connect mobile devices to your Skyroam network, and pay-as-you-go for each 24 hour day pass of unlimited data. The first 5 days of WiFi are on the house, then you pay $10/day each time you activate a day pass.

Hi Brooke, you used the free apps while traveling. My question is what country code does a caller in the US use when calling a US phone that is physically located in Europe? The US country code or the European country code? Thanks for your assistance.

Many Sprint smartphones include WiFi Calling, which lets them work just like at home over a hotel or cafe WiFi connection. Earlier this month, on a 12-day tour of Greece with my family, I used this to keep in touch with relatives back home without paying any roaming charges. I made sure Mobile Data was turned OFF and only WiFi was enabled.

I believe T-Mobile also offers this service.

Carrier-provided WiFi Calling has some advantages over Skype or similar applications: because it’s officially supported, your phone rings when people in the USA call your cell number, and when you place calls it reports your cell number over CallerID.

Note that WiFi Calling does not support calling emergency services when outside the USA. Also, if you call a non-US number over WiFi Calling, you’d dial it as though you were in the USA, and pay the same international rate as you would to call that number from home. So if you need to make lots of calls to numbers in the country you are visiting, WiFi Calling isn’t your best option. International WiFi Calling is designed for keeping in touch with people back home in the US while abroad.

So if your phone supports WiFi Calling, and you mainly want to keep in touch with folks in the USA, then I can highly recommend using it. I considered renting an international wireless hotspot, but decided not to because the websites for all the hotels I would be using said they offered free WiFi, which they did. I was able to call my home answering machine from every hotel I used in Greece, though in a couple of them I had to call home from the lobby because WiFi signal in my room was just sufficient for email and web but not quite good enough for WiFi Calling. In both these hotels it worked OK from the lobby.

Hello I traveled from US to the UK my Daughter has I phone 5 from Verizon they told me it is unlocked we put in Lebara SIM card when arriving it worked for about 24 hours and it stopped functioning for text and wifi package that we purchased. Unable to solve problem we went to phone store and they tested new card for EE and it was working but again after 24 hours the texting and wifi no longer works. Phone calls still do. She will be in the UK for 10 months any idea on why thus is happening and if it can be resolved. I called Verizon to double check that it was not locked and they said it wasn’t .
Thank you for any advice

My wife and I are traveling out of the country for a while, and we’re trying to figure out what to do with our cell phones. It looks like we’ll just have to make sure that we have an unlocked phone that we can use anywhere in the world. This is the first time we have heard of this, so we appreciate the information, and will do some additional research on the matter!

Hi there! I am actually interested in buying a cell phone abroad (I am currently in Laos), taking it back to the US, and using it with one of those month-to-month pre-paid sim card phone packages. Interestingly, the selection of no-strings-attached, pop-in-a-card-and-go phones here seems better than in the US; no one uses a “plan” here. Do you know if there are any reasons this WOULDN’T work? Are there any types of phones I might end up buying here in Laos or Thailand that would be incompatible with sim cards/networks in the US? Thanks!

I can’t answer that question definitively, but most decent smartphones that work in SE Asia should give you call, SMS and 3G data on T-Mobile or AT&T. Compare the GSM frequencies supported by the phone you’re looking at, vs those supported by AT&T and T-Mobile, for more certainty.

No phone you buy in SE Asia will work with Verizon in the US, as it uses a completely different type of technology.

I’ve been wanting to buy a new iphone I currently have the 4 that used to be my dads old one he got it unlocked and I used it with wifi. So my question is if I buy a unlocked IPhone 5s do I have to but a SIM card and all that stuff if I just want to use it for wifi ?

Hi guys, have you ever tried ChatSim? I think it’s a great solution to avoid roaming charges. It’s a SIM card designed for people who travel a lot and want a quick and easy way to keep in touch. It lets you chat free of charge and without limits in about 150 countries for a flat annual fee of €10. Wherever you are it automatically connects to the provider with the best coverage and signal around the world, more than 400 operators. It works with all phones and lets you use the world’s leading chat apps. With the multimedia recharges users have credits to make voice calls using instant messaging applications and to exchange even photos and videos.

How is the Global version of the Motorola Moto G better for using overseas? The only difference I can see in specs is UMTS/HSPA+ frequencies, but I don’t know what that’s for or if it matters. Staples seems to be selling the U.S. model, not sure where I might find the Global.

Those frequencies are the primary difference — and the reason why the Global version is better overseas. They’ll give you high-speed data in many more countries than you’ll get with the North American version. Also, there are dual-SIM versions available internationally, which can be very useful if you want to keep your SIM from home active for (eg) text messages from your bank, while using a local SIM for calls and data to keep the costs down.

Very nice article, I just wanted to ask you, if my mobile will work overseas. I have a Royal V5 by iDROID USA. I like it very much which is why i want to take it abroad. How should I confirm it will work in that country. And mostly my work is on WhatsApp.

I used a data provider called Transatel DataSIM For travelling and it does work very well. It covers 38 countries where we can have local tarif in each country. I used it for my last trip to states and i still can use it for my upcoming trip in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.

Sometimes we just do not focus on things like that but it is really important to keep in mind to stay away problems we could face due to being irresponsible! I learned some very important tips @ here! 🙂 Thank you Matt for sharing such a great post 🙂

Harry, you are right, it is good! and I just use my SIAM 7x Dual screen phone while traveling! it enable me to watch movies on HD Screen size while I can use the other screen for chatting with my friend at the same time 😛

Matt is spot on. Excellent tips for travelers…
I am normally residing on 3 different continents during a year and have come to a some conclusions. Here are my two cents.
– Stay away from phones that has anything to do with Verizon or Sprint. Matt explained it above.
– Don’t buy a phone in China as the operating system is locked to prevent download of Google apps. Huawei phones are especially troublesome. China and Google has been in a war for quite some time now.
– If you want warranty – buy directly from a Cell phone manufacturers store. Ask them to confirm coverage in writing.
– Ask them to configure the phone for your language.

Having been through several experiences during the last 5 years I have come to the conclusion that the Google Nexus line of phones is the only way to go. They are unlocked and always updated with the latest. I have never had a compatibility problem at any location or with any GSM provider.
Also there are no Bloatware installed on the phones.

My advise plan ahead before it is time to buy a new phone.
I will never buy a phone again that is associated with a cell service provider or a plan. Also I will never buy a phone that is locked by the manufacturer.
Life is too short to battle man made trade barriers and legal protectionism.

Currently AT&T Passport is $30 for a one-month activation, gives you unlimited messages, 120BM cellular data (with an overage of .$25 per MB) and $1 per minute calling. For a “standard” 2-week vacation, and IF the country you are visiting is listed on their system (for example South Africa, our next destination) this is a decent program to pick up, assuming you aren’t going to make anything but necessary brief calls (i.e., to hotels or local contacts). We used it in Costa Rica, and thought we’d use it in Canada, but it turned out Canada was covered in our normal plan (!) so they didn’t charge us the $30 for passport. There are upgrades available, but considering all you need to do is wait until there is wifi for extended contacts, this isn’t a terrible deal. In two weeks, we don’t normally make more than half a dozen phone calls when we are at home! I also make use of “airplane” mode about 90% of the time I am traveling.

I am relocating from the US to Hong Kong. I know very little about phones and am trying to make an educated dual-Sim smart phone purchase. There are several Asia models for half of the US price I’m used to seeing. My concern is whether the phone will work when I travel back to the US. My intention is to keep my t-mobile (US Sim card plan where I just add minutes every 3 months) in order to keep my US number. I would use a HK sim which I add minutes to each month to usee whilein Asia. Do you have any dual-sim phone suggestions for me that might work well whichever country I’m? I know they aren’t sold in the US and I just want to make sure it will work when I visit. In the past I’ve liked the HTC One and Samsung. Thank you so much for your expertise and help!!!

Hi
I am traveling to Europe to visit a friend who lives over there. I have an unlocked Samsung Galaxy s5 with Verizon. I am hoping to just use Wifi while we are traveling together. However, I would like to have a backup in case I need it. She has extra sim cards as part of her family data plan in England. She thinks I should be able to use one of her sims in my phone and be on her plan. My husband doesn’t understand how I can use a different sim without doing a factory reset on my phone and losing all my current apps and contacts? Can you explain how this works? Thank you!

I’ve unlocked my phone and plan to buy Simcards abroad if internet doesn’t seem like enough but I have some questions about simcards. Are the texts and minutes only good to other phones inside of that country? I’m looking for a way to call collect my health insurance provider if something happens to go wrong. Suggestions?

I have a question, if Dave or another contributor can weigh in:
– Can one order sim cards for a country (in my case, Portugal) for delivery at a U.S. address ahead of a trip? This is not clear to me from my internet searches. Last year, while traveling in several European countries, I often found it a hassle to stand in a long line while waiting for service then having difficulty communicating with the sales representative. Worse, when I arrived in the UK and did not have time to get a sim card for my phone, I made the poor decision to pick up my rental car and drive to my destination, with the intent on getting a sim card the next day. As luck would have it, I got a flat tire and there was no lock nut socket to remove the wheel and put on the spare. My wife and I were stuck on the side of the road late into that night and in the rain–as I had no phone. Never again.
As an additional comment, I found I used the phone very rarely, once a week or so-but I still want it for emergencies. I also carry an iPad and relied on wifi connections for its use in the evening. However, I found that I could not download Google maps for Spain. I presume this was one of the Google problems referred to by Dave. This trip, for my travel to Portugal, I’m hauling along my old Garmin, downloaded with Portugal maps.

Great tips. I was just wondering if I plan on touring Europe for a couple of Months for example what is the best option? Because if I buy a SIM card in France for example, it will incur roaming charges when I go to Germany and other countries, right? So I am confused as what the best option would be. I do have an unlocked phone by the way! Thank you!

Hi Matt,
Does a SIM card stay tied to the bands/frequencies of the carrier that sold it to me? I ask because when I travel to Europe, and add a roaming plan from Verizon to my iPhone 6 or iPad Mini 4, they work just fine, but I cannot get them to work in 4G LTE. But if I buy a local SIM card, the devices display the LTE icon. Is it a SIM card issue? If the Verizon SIM card is tied to one of the 4 Verizon bands/frequencies, then it cannot do LTE in Europe even though the iPad itself is capable of using the European LTE frequencies. Is that correct?

This is not the case. The original provider in home country sometimes makes agreements with outland service providers for 3G and/or 4G, so mostly your home provider didn’t have such agreement with the foreign provider, and offer 2G only or 3G.